Mowing-machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

A. STEVENS.

MOWING MACHINE.

No. 430,791. Patented June 24, 1890.

`(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. STEVENS.

MOWING MACHINE.

No. 430,791. Patented June 24, 1890.

Zw@ Y@ @www NiTnn l STATES PATENT OFFICE..

ANSEL STEVENS, OF CUMBERLAND MILLS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOI-IN J. FRYE, OF PORTLAND, MAINE. i

MowlNc-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,791, dated June 24, 1890.

Application filed November 2, 1889. Serial No. 329,008. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANSEL STEVENS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Cumberland Mills, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the :o art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to mowingmachines; and it has for its objects, iirst, to provide means for relieving the pressure of the inner shoe and the finger and cutter bars on the ground, whereby they may be oated or carried so lightly over the ground that they may rise and fall freely to accommodate themselve to unevenness and inequalities in zo the surface over which the machine travels; second, to provide means for assisting the driver in lifting these parts when, in order to pass obstructions or to drive the machine from one place or field to another, or any 2 5 other cause, it may become necessary or desirable to raise the entire cutting apparatus and its connected parts bodily from off the ground.

Prior to this invention several construcgo tions and arrangements of devices had been devised to accomplish separately and generally these results, and in a patent granted to me February 27, 1887, Serial No. 187,737, I have shown, described, an d claimed an arrangement 3 5 of counterbalance weight or spring in connection with the hand-lifting mechanism for that purpose; but in this and all other machines where this is attempted, so far as I am aware, the lifting and counterbalancing mechanism 4o has been arranged on the same side of the axle as the hinge-bar and cutting apparatus, from which it results that in front-cut machines when these parts are raised bodily from the ground their weight is transferred to the tongue and thrown almost entirely on the necks of the horses, while in rear-cut machines the tendency is to tip the machine over backward, thereby exerting great upward strain on the necks of the animals. In

5o this invention,however, I overcome these objectionable features and locate the lifting and eounterbalancing mechanism over or on that side of the axle opposite to the cutting apparatus, whereby when the latter is raised bodily, as above described, the weight of thc 5 5 parts exerts no particular strain on the tongue in either direction, but is thrown onto the axle of the machine; and I prefer to mount these lifting and counterbalancing devices so that they may be adjusted forward and back 6o to and from the axle, so that the necks of the horses are not only entirely relieved of the strain, but the machine with the cutting apparatus raised up may be practically balanced on the axle.

To this end the invention consists in the construction, organization, and relative arrangement of parts hereinafter particularly described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this speeiti 7c cation.

In the drawings, Figure l is a fore-and-aft vertical section of a mower equipped with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the lifting and counterbalancing devices. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the same parts in a different position; and Fig. el. is aview similar to Fig. l, with the lifting and counterbalanc-` ing devices set so as to operate entirely in rear of the axle. Fig. 5 is a side elevation So of a fragment of the lifting and counterbalancing levers as seen from the opposite side to that in Fig. l. i

The frame or main casting of the machine has at or near its rear side a tubular box or sleeve, by means of which it is hung on the axle. This frame is connected with the tongue in the ordinary manner. The hingebar (or couplingbar or frame, as it'is often called) and the finger-bar and its appurte 9o nances are, like the frame and the tongue, of the usual construction and arrangement in this class of machines, and need no particular description or illustration to enable those skilled in the art to construct and use them.

The mower shown in the drawings is of the ordinary front-cut two-wheel type.

Proceeding now to describe my improve ments in connection with this class of machine, and referencebeing had to the drawroo ings, A denotes the tubular axle box or sleeve before referred to. Rearwardly from this sleeve projects the bracket B, upon which are supported and adjustably attached, so as to rection in which it must be drawn by the opbc moved to or from the axle, the lifting and counterbalancing mechanism. This mechanism consists of the hand lifting-lever C, pivoted upon a spindle c, projecting laterally from one side of the notched segment-rack D,rising vertically froma suitable base-plate or stand d. This plate is secured to and upon the rearwardly-projecting bracket B by means of bolts passing through fore-and-aft slots OZ in the bracket and into holes or perforations b in the rack-plate, receiving nuts b2 upon their ends. The lifting-lever is provided, as usual, with the hand-latch c at its upper end, connected by a rod with the pawl c2, pivoted near its lower end, and engaging the teeth on the segmental rack.

Around a short stud E, projecting laterally from the opposite side of thel rack from the lever, is coiled the stiff steel spring E', one end arranged to engage a notched rib e on the rack-plate by which it is kept from displacement, and its opposite end bearing against a lug or projcctionfon the side of the lever, the action of the spring being to tend to force said lever constantly in the dierator to lift the cutting apparatus from olf the ground. The teeth on the rack-segment D are arranged as shown in Fig. l, the one on the front side presenting its squared shoulder toward the front, and those on the crown and rear side of the segment pointing in the opposite direction.

Iivoted on the same spindle with the lifting-lever by means of its tubular hub g is a bell-crank lever F. In one adjustment of the lifting and counterbalance mechanism the weight-arm of this lever projects forward, so that thechain G, which extends from the end of this arm, is connected at any convenient point with the hin ge-bar H, and hangs down just in front of the axle. In the drawings, Fig. 1,this chain is shown connected to a short arm h, projecting rearwardly from the hinge-bar; but itmay be connected to the bar directly or to the diagonal brace H', or in fact to any part of the mechanism which supports the cutting apparatus, whether it be an arm merely or a frame, so long as it rises and falls with the cutting apparatus.

As before stated, the lifting and counterbalance mechanism is made adjustable backward and forward for the purpose of adjusting the weight with relation to the axle. In Fig. 4 it is shown as set back so that the front end ot' the bell-crankF plays in rear of the axle, and the chain hangs down behind instead of in front thereof. In this adjustment of the mechanism a convenient way of making connection between the forward end of the bell-crank lever and the coupling bar or frame when the liit and counter-balance are in this rearward position is shown in Fig. 4, consisting of a bar I, of iron or steel, having a hook z' at its front end, which is caught into an eye L in the hinge-bar, the bar I extending lthence diagonally backward to or in rear of the front end of the bell-crank lever the more nearly vertical the chain will hang and the more easy the action of the parts will be.

Coiled around the hub g of the bell-crank lever is a steel spring L, one end bearing in a notch in the base-plate of the segment and the opposite end against a lug Z on the rear arm of the bell-crank. This bell-crank, it will be observed, is freely pivoted on the same axis as the hand-lever. It lies close beside the latter, and has a free and easy movement independent of the latter. It is, nevertheless, constructed and arranged in relation to the hand-lever so that it will be drawn back by the latter in raising the cutting apparatus. The rear arm of the bell-crank is provided with a laterally-projecting pin or detent f, which stands in the path of the hand-lever, which pin is struck by said lever in its backward movement, causing the bellcrank to rock with the lever in that movement. The spring L, which is coiled around the hub of this bell-crank and reacts between the frame and the arm ofthe bell-crank, is

the counterbalancc-spring. Its function is, primarily, to lessen the pressure of the inner shoe and the nger-bar on the ground,where by the friction of the cutting apparatus is lessened, side draft is reduced, and part of the weight of the cutting apparatus is transferred to the machine, thus increasing the traction of the drive-Wheels. The spring E, reacting between the lifting-lever and the frame, however, plays no part in the function of floating or les'sening the weight of the cutting apparatus on the ground, but is designed solely for the purpose of assisting the driver in the operation of raising the entire mechanism off the ground by relievinghim of part of its weight. The counterbalancespring having the less work to do, not being inten d ed to do more than relieve the pressure of the cutting apparatus on the ground, is made lighter or of less strength than the liftingspring. independent of the counterbalance-sprin`g, though the latter aids and assists the former in its lifting function. The lifting-spring is of course made heavier than the counterbalance-spring; but it need not be made so stift' as other lifting-springs must be whose action is not supplemented by a counterbalance.

lVhile the machine shown in the drawings, and in connection with which the invention has hereinabove been described, is of the now common and popular two-wheel front-cut type 4it is obvious that my invention is also applicable to the equally-well-known rear-cut machines. In applying it to such machines the positions of the lifting and counterbalancing levers and the hinge-bar with relation to the axle would simply be reversed.

From the above description the operation ICO IIO

The action of the lifting-spring is of the parts will be clear. In action the handlever is thrust forward till its pawl drops down in front of the foremost tooth of the rack. In this position the weight of the cutting apparatus willpull down the front arm of the counterbalance -lever till the fingerbar rests lightly on the ground ready for use. The stress of the lifting-spring tending constantly to throw thehand-lever back prevents it from wabbling with the jolting and jarring of the machine, and holds it firmly against the rack-tooth within convenient reach of the driver in his seat. The counterbalancespring' tends also to lift the linger-bar, but, not being sufficiently stiff, only takes part of its weight off the ground,and, tending to throw the bell-crank back, keeps the connectingchain always taut, the bell-crank rocking freely on the axis of the hand-lever as the shoe rises and falls in its movement over the ground. When it is desired to raise up from the ground the entire cutting mechanism, the driver unlocks the pawl from the rack, and if the spring has not been made sufficiently stiff to do the work alone, pulls the lever back. In thismovement the back of the lever strikes the pin or detent on the rear arm of the bellcrank, and carries that lever back with it, pulling on the chain and lifting the whole cutting apparatus. Of course the nearer the point of suspension of the lifting and counterbalance mechanism to the axle the less strain will be thrown on the necks of the team, and the farther that point is adjusted to the opposite side of the axle from the hinge or coupling` bar the more perfectly the weight of the frame and tongue and the parts supported thereby will be balanced on the axle.

I do not wish to be understood as limited to the details of the construction or arrangement herein shown, as the invention is susceptible of variation within considerable limits.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. In amower,the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, a lifting-lever mounted on the frame so as to be adj usted forward and backward, and a chain-connection between the lever and the hinge-bar, substantially as described.

2. In a mower, the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, a counterbalance springlever mounted on the frame so as to be adj usted backward and forward thereon, and a chain-connection between the lever and the hinge-bar, substantially as described.

3. In a mower, the combination of the frame pivoted upon the axle, a bracket projecting from the frame on one side of the axle, a lifting-lever mounted on said bracket, and a direct chain-connection between said lever and the hinge-bar on the opposite side of the axle from the bracket, substantially as described.

4. In a mower, the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, a bracket projecting from the frame on one side of the axle, a spring connterbalance-lever mounted on thebracket, and a direct chain-connection between the lever and the hinge-bar on the opposite side of the axle from the bracket, substantially as described.

5. Inamower, the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, a bracket projecting from the frame on one side of the axle, a lifting-lever mounted on said bracket so as to be adjusted forward and backward, and a direct chain-connection between said lever and the hinge-bar on the opposite side of the axle from the bracket, substantially as described.

6. In a mower, the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, a bracket projecting from the frame on one side of the axle, a spring counterbalance-lever mounted on the bracket so as to be adjusted fore and aft, and a direct chain-connection between the lever and the hinge-bar on the opposite side of the axle from the bracket, substantially as described.

7. In amower, the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, a hand-lever mounted on the frame, an independent spring counterbalance-lever pivoted on the same axis as the hand-lever, a pin on the counterbalance-lever overlapping the back of the hand-lever, and a direct chain-connection between the counterbalance-lever and the hinge-bar, substantially as described.

8. In a mower, the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, a segment-rack on the frame, a hand-lever pivoted concentric to the rack, a spring reacting between the lever and the frame, a counterbalance-lever pivoted on the same axis as the hand-lever, a spring reacting between this lever and the frame, the hand-lever having a hand-controlled pawl engaging the rack, the counterbalance-lever having a projection arranged to be struck by the back of the hand-lever, and a chain connecting the counterbalancelever with the hinge-bar, substantially as described.

9. In a mower, the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, a segment-rackon the frame, a hand lifting-lever, a stiff liftingspring reacting between the lever and. the frame, a counterbalance-lever pivoted on the axis of the hand-lever, a weaker spring reacting between it and the frame, the counterbalanee-lever having a projection overlapping the back of the hand-lever, and a chain connecting the counterbalance-lever with the hinge-bar, substantially as described.

l0. In a mower, the combination of the frame, a lifting-lever and a counterbalance spring-lever mounted thereon on one side of the axle, and a direct chain-connection between the counterbalancc-lever and the hinge-bar, said bar being on the opposite side of the axle from the levers, substantially as described.

ll. In a mower, the combination of the frame pivoted on the axle, the bracket B, pro- IOO IIO

jecting therefrom in rear ot' the aXle and having the slots d', the segment D, its baseplate d, having,y the bolt-holes l), the bolts and nuts, the hancl-lever C, pivoted on the spindle c, concentric with the rack, the heavy liftingspring 3, reacting between the hand-lever and the frame, the bellcrankelever F, pivoted on the same axis with the lifting-lever, the relatively light counterbalancing-spring L, reacting' between the frame and the rear arm of the bell-crank, the projection f on said rear arm overlapping` the back of the liftinglever, and the chain G, connecting the front arm of said lever with the hinge-bar or coupling-frame, the segment-rack having` the square-faced tooth on its front side and the rearwardly-facing ratchet-teeth on its rear part, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

` ANSEL STEVENS. Witnesses:

J. A. GoLDsBoRoUGH, D. G. STUART. 

